Batman: Darren Aronofsky Says He Wanted Joaquin Phoenix but Studio Wanted Freddie Prinze Jr.

Before Christopher Nolan was ultimately tapped to deliver audiences Batman Begins starring Christian Bale, Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky was developing his own take on the Caped Crusader, with the filmmaker noting that one reason the project fell apart was because he wanted to cast Joaquin Phoenix while the studio was interested in Freddie Prinze Jr. These decisions would have been made following Phoenix's acclaimed performance in Gladiator while Prinze was coming off of teen-oriented films like Summer Catch and Scooby-Doo, with Aronofsky clearly wanting to go in an even darker direction than what Nolan delivered in his 2005 film.

"The studio wanted Freddie Prinze Jr. and I wanted Joaquin Phoenix," Aronofsky shared with Empire. "I remember thinking, 'Uh oh, we're making two different films here.' That's a true story. It was a different time. The Batman I wrote was definitely a way different type of take than they ended up making."

With Nolan's trilogy of Batman films going on to be immensely successful, it would seem that Warner Bros. made the right decision in what avenues to pursue, and with Phoenix ultimately winning an Academy Award for his portrayal of Batman's nemesis in last year's Joker, it would seem like all parties involved made appropriate decisions.

Batman Begins ultimately drew inspiration from multiple Batman stories from writer Frank Miller, though Aronofsky claimed that his take on the film would have lifted more heavily directly from Miller's Batman: Year One. The filmmaker even enlisted Miller to help him write the script, which would have also drawn inspiration from films like Taxi Driver, The French Connection, and Death Wish. These influences might have deviated a little too far from the studio's intentions, with the director's goal being to get as far away from previous takes on the character as he could.

"The Batman that was out before me was Batman & Robin, the famous one with the nipples on the Batsuit, so I was really trying to undermine that, and reinvent it," the filmmaker confessed. "That's where my head went."

Aronofsky added, "It was an amazing thing because I was a big fan of [Miller's] graphic novel work, so just getting to meet him was exciting back then."

Director Matt Reeves is delivering the next take on the character, The Batman, with Robert Pattinson starring as the Dark Knight. While not quite an origin story, the next film is said to depict the second year of Bruce Wayne's embrace of his alter ego.

Would you have liked to see Aronofsky's film with Phoenix as the lead? Let us know in the comments below!